Tag: Staff Directory WordPress Plugin

Many business and marketing experts often raise the point that people generally tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for inexpensive ways to sell more products or services online, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

If you use WordPress, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your team, or your staff using a WordPress staff list plugin.

This tutorial explains how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to your website.

Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory To Your Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you display basic information about your employee on your website.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your WP dashboard and in your admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will show up in the main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin adding new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups panel …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter the category description
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new category …

(Groups settings area)

If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …

To edit Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The group details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …

Click the Update Group button to save your changes …

Continue adding categories to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member area)

This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: You can modify the slug associated with each employee if required (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The employee’s position
• Email: Type the staff member’s email address here
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

A new category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an employee’s details to the group …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial on using the WordPress admin toolbar here:

• The WordPress Dashboard Explained

Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have set up your site’s permalinks correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here:

• How To Set Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding more members to your directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your staff members and all details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to change an individual’s details, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members info)

If you have many employees, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details …

(Search members)

You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its new location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

After adding all employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the new location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you create the style and layout of your staff directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Your employee listings will now display as shown in the example below …

(Directory with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your main admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

For example, a useful variation you can add to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])

Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need specific help with this plugin, go to the plugin plugin website.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your employees. Here are other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Modern Team Staff Directory helps you collect your team information and showcase it anywhere on your site in beautiful grids, columns and tables. This premium plugin features over a dozen presets and provides editors that make it easy to edit and update your directory.

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.

You can also add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

More info:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, pic and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

Detailed information about  each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an employee directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

More info:

• Staffer – WP Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty directory to your WordPress site without coding skills.

Images of models used to depict staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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